Michigan lawmaker leads 'hate group,' civil rights group claims again

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LANSING, MI -- A civil rights group based in Alabama is calling an organization led in Michigan by state Rep. Gary Glenn a "hate group" once again.

The accusation targeting the American Family Association is part of a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Glenn, who represents parts of Midland and Bay counties, declined to comment on the group's accusation. He is president of the American Family Association in Michigan.

He referred to earlier comments he has made regarding the "hate group" label, calling it a "pejorative and prejudicial characterization."

The accusation is part of the Southern Poverty Law Center's report on the impact of state religious liberty laws on the LGBT community.

The group's report -- titled "Religious Liberty" and the Anti-LGBT Right -- claims there has been a backlash to recent victories for LGBT rights, like the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage in 2015. It focuses on a handful of national groups "working furiously against LGBT rights."

"These vehemently anti-LGBT groups give lip service to religious freedom, but that is clearly not their goal in pushing these so-called 'religious liberty' laws," said Heidi Beirich, the report's author and director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project.

Glenn says the SPLC has its own agenda. He cites sources such as a 2014 Christian Post article on an academic study finding such designation of conservative Christian groups by the SPLC is "a tool of mobilizing liberals, rather than an objective source of hate groups."

Glenn also cited a 2014 letter to the editor from a group criticizing attacks on the then-candidate for state representative.

A freshman state lawmaker serving in the Michigan House of Representatives since 2015, Glenn has long served as president of the Michigan branch of the American Family Association, which is based in Mississippi.

The conservative religious organization claims to fight for "family values," including opposition of what the AFA-Michigan website labels as the "homosexual agenda."

The Southern Poverty Law Center claims that many of the anti-LGBT groups it identifies "have networks of state and local allies" to promote legislation that supporters call "religious freedom" laws.

The SPLC argues the laws are actually aimed at pushing back against advances made for LGBT individuals. The SPLC report points to "Religious Freedom Restoration Acts" pending in 11 states, including Michigan.

The Michigan legislation -- Senate Bill 4 of 2015 -- was introduced by state Sen. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, in January 2015. The bill, if made into law, would focus on prohibiting the government from "substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion."

According to the bill, exercise of religion includes "an act or refusal to act, that is substantially motivated by a sincerely held religious belief."

Shirkey has argued that the legislation would clear up legal ambiguity and clarify First Amendment rights.

"Michigan RFRA is not a license to discriminate," Shirkey said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "In fact, it is far from a license to do anything other than have the basis to defend oneself against government action interfering with one's personally held religious beliefs."

But opponents like the Southern Poverty Law Center argue that the bill, and others like it, "allow individuals to deny goods and services to LGBT people on the basis of their religious beliefs" and have the potential to "create an atmosphere of bigotry and discrimination."

Prior to his legislative service, Glenn coauthored Michigan's Marriage Protection Amendment, the state's 2004 ban on same-sex marriage that was struck down by the Supreme Court's June 2015 ruling.

He has frequently voiced his opposition to same-sex marriage and has stood against attempts to add sexual orientation and gender identity to protected classes in anti-discrimination laws and policies across the state.

But anyone who expected Glenn to focus on those controversial issues during his first year in office was likely surprised.

The Midland County lawmaker was named "freshman lawmaker of the year" by Michigan Information and Research Service -- a Michigan Capitol news service better known as MIRS -- for his work on several weighty topics in 2015.

Of the 22 bills he sponsored in his first year as a state lawmaker, almost all deal with energy, education, tax and labor policies or state transportation funding.

One exception was House Bill 4855 of 2015, a bill that would allow ministers to refuse to perform any marriage "that violates his or her conscience or religious beliefs." The bill, sponsored by Glenn and referred to the Committee on Government Operations, would also hold the minister "immune from any civil claim or cause of action" based on that refusal.

The 98th House District includes the city of Midland and Larkin, Lincoln, Homer, Midland, Lee and Jerome townships in southern Midland County and the cities of Pinconning and Auburn and Gibson, Mount Forest, Pinconning, Garfield, Fraser, Beaver and Williams townships in western and northern Bay County.